Let's talk about these extra beats

In recent years, rates of "chronic illness" and "autoimmune disorders" have been rising at an astonishing rate. Most of us have heard of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, IBD, celiac disease, thyroid conditions etc. But there is one chronic "condition" that I think isn't being talked about enough-cardiac PVCs.

WHAT ARE PVCS?

PVCs (Premature Ventricular Contractions) are extra heart beats originating in the ventricles (bottom chambers) of the heart that interfere with the normal electrical impulses causing heart palpitations, skipping and fluttering (as well as many other symptoms). PVCs are common and most people have a couple PVCs a day, but may not even notice. But for those of us that suffer from frequent and/or "high burden" PVCs-trust me, we feel them.

MY DIAGNOSIS

For me it all started about seven years ago when I was a college student. Just getting out of bed I would get dizzy, heart racing and shortness of breath. I wasn't able to walk up a flight of stairs without feeling like I was going to pass out and doing any sort of exercise was challenging. After several trips to the ER, medical center and visits to many different doctors I was getting the same response-"You're young and healthy. It's just stress". But I kept insisting it wasn't, I knew my body. Finally, one of my doctors decided to refer me to a cardiologist just to be sure.

One of the tests the cardiologist started with was a holter monitor. A holter monitor is a device that records your hearts activity for a certain amount of time (typically 24-48 hours). In a 24 hour period, my holter monitor showed that I was having approximately 20,000 PVCs AKA extra heartbeats a day. At the time, I really didn't understand the significance of what the doctor was telling me. Just some extra beats, no big deal. I was just happy to hear that it wasn't all in my head and based on all of my other cardiac tests my heart was "structurally normal" so there was no reason to be concerned.

At the beginning of it all, it was really hard. I was having all of these new symptoms that were super scary and being surrounded by other people in their 20's didn't make it any easier. At times I would have really bad episodes in front of other people-that was the absolute worst. Some people tried to make me feel better, others just had no idea how to help. I started avoiding going out all together because I never knew when symptoms would hit me. So I became the boring person, the "party pooper", the one that played it safe---but what people didn't realize is I had a reason.

But it got easier, thank God. I've learned what my triggers are. I've learned that I absolutely do not care what other people think about me. I've earned that true friends won't ditch you when you're at your worst and being with someone you love means that they will support you no matter what. I've learned that having chronic anything brings about anxiety-and that's okay. But I've learned how to cope with it in healthy ways.

GOT PVCs?

Well, you're not alone. When i was first diagnosed I googled my butt off for anything and everything about PVCs and hardly found anything that supported how terrible I was feeling. It was really discouraging---i felt totally alone. But it wasn't until recently that I found a Facebook support group with almost FOUR THOUSAND followers who have very similar stories to mine (i.e. search PVC Ectopic Cardiac Arrhythmia Support on Facebook). From talking to other people in the group i've realized that this is so much bigger than I thought it was.

Although cardiac PVCs aren't typically classified as a "chronic condition" I think most PVC sufferers would disagree. It is something that we have to live with everyday, for years. We have ups, downs, flare ups and meltdowns. At times the symptoms make it hard for us to do the things we need to do on a daily basis (which is a hard pill to swallow for an someone who is an occupational therapist). We are constantly aware of our bodies and its reaction. Many of us have to be monitored frequently by our doctors to make sure that the burden of these extra beats isn't weakening our hearts as a result of being over worked, which of course brings about reasonable worry.

SO this is for all of my friends out there that live with frequent PVCs. I UNDERSTAND what you're going through. I am HERE to support you and your journey to feel better. There is already a growing community of people struggling with symptoms of PVCs, AFib and other cardiac arrhythmias. I hope that I along with the rest of you, can continue to bring about awareness and promote ways for us all to be healthier, stronger versions of ourselves!

FOR MORE INFORMATION on PVCs, check out https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17381-premature-ventricular-contractions

-Anjelica-